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| Kiwi FM to visit the North |
| 2013-10-31 |
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully is to travel to the predominantly Tamil northern region of Sri Lanka next month to see first-hand civilian life since the end of the country’s long civil war in 2009, the Xinhua news agency said.
McCully said Thursday he would make the trip while attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo from Nov. 10 to 17.
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| Commonwealth report notes army role |
| 2013-10-31 |
Commonwealth Election Monitors have noted in their final report on the Northern Provincial Council Elections held last month, that the military’s alleged involvement was a key feature of the election campaign period.
The monitors have, in a seven point recommendation, noted that the involvement and influence of the military in an election campaign is serious and disturbing and must be investigated and strictly avoided in the future.
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| Credible Sri Lankan War Crimes Investigation on the Horizon |
| 2013-10-31 |
At the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) 68th session in late September, a major stipulation was laid out by UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in reference to the shocking slaughtering of tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians in the spring of 2009.
Given strong evidence that Tamil civilians were killed primarily by government forces -- many in schools, hospitals and government-declared safe zones -- the High Commissioner called upon Sri Lanka to "use the time between now
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| UK says all Tamils not at risk |
| 2013-10-31 |
The British Home Office says while there are new “at risk” categories for Sri Lankan nationals being sent back after their asylum requests are rejected, Tamils per se are not at risk.
Minister of State for Immigration Mark Harper said that each application for protection is considered on its individual merits against country information obtained from a wide range of sources.
From January to June this year Britain has deported 347 Sri Lankan nationals either voluntarily or by
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| UK for probe on sexual violence |
| 2013-10-31 |
The British government says it will press the Sri Lankan Government to investigate all human rights abuses, including the shocking allegations of acts of sexual violence committed during and after the conflict.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says he and Prime Minister David Cameron will urge the government to allow free expression and to stop intimidation of journalists and also bring about reconciliation and political reform.
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| US to initiate programme to uplift lives of 5000 families in the North |
| 2013-10-31 |
The United States has come forward to implement a two-year programme to uplift the livelihoods of around 5000 families in the North that were affected by the war. An agreement in this regard was reached when the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, called on the Chief Minister of the Northern Province in Jaffna on Wednesday.
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michelle J.Sison held discussions with Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran at the Chief Minister's official residence in Jaffna.
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| Child Abuse In Vavuniya? |
| 2013-10-31 |
Following the latest sordid episode of child molestation reported from Vavuniya where a young man in robes is accused of committing the crime, questions have been raised as to whether there are loopholes in the law in the country that prevents or delays action being taken against the perpetrators.
Sumithra Fernando, Attorney-at-Law, Women-in-Need (WIN) said that the laws are in place and added that the laws cannot be implemented against the suspects because of the workload in courts.
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| US envoy meets Wigneswaran |
| 2013-10-31 |
Ambassador Michele J. Sison has had talks with the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in Jaffna today.
The US Embassy in Colombo said that the talks focused on support for education and livelihood projects in the North.
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| FUTA: Branches of foreign universities are of no use |
| 2013-10-31 |
In the wake of the JVP -led Socialist Student Union (SSU) handing over a petition against setting up a branch of a UK based university in Sri Lanka, the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) claimed that the university at issue was not among the top British higher educational institutions.
FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri told The Island that the University of Central Lancashire (UCL) had been opened in 1992.
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| Merkel sends intelligence delegation to US |
| 2013-10-31 |
A German delegation of intelligence officials is in Washington for talks at the White House on Wednesday following claims that the US monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
The Chancellor's foreign policy advisor and Germany's intelligence co-ordinator will hold talks at the White House.
The head of US intelligence has defended the monitoring of foreign leaders as a key goal of operations.
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